Asia’s naphtha refining margin continued to trade near eight month lows on Tuesday and window activity remained thin as traders closely watched the China-U.S. tariff tensions unfold for a second week.

The crack traded at about $60.60 per metric ton over Brent crude, the lowest since July 2024, and the backwardation narrowed to $5.25 per ton.

Price of second-half May naphtha rose by $10 to $541.50 a ton after crude oil benchmarks steadied near multi-year lows.

In refinery news, India’s Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL) will begin a planned maintenance turnaround at its petrochemical complex in eastern India on April 16, a company spokesperson said. The plant has 700,000 tons per year of ethylene capacity.

Indian Oil Corp will build a 1.5 million tons per year (tpy) dual feed naphtha cracker near its Paradip refinery in Eastern Odisha state, its chairman said.

NEWS

– China refused to bow to what it called “blackmail” from the United States as a global trade war ignited by President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs showed little sign of abating on Tuesday, even as battered stock markets steadied.

– Oil prices steadied on Tuesday but remained near four-year lows as a recovery in equity markets was outweighed by recession fears exacerbated by trade conflict between the United States and China, the world’s two biggest economies.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Two gasoline trades.
Source: Reuters